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Obituary Addresses 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE BAR 



On the Occasion of the Death of 

ABRAHAM 0. ZABRISKIE, LL.l), 



Late Chancellor of the State of New Jersey. 



PRINTED FOR THE HUDSON COUNTY BAR, 

I I 



JERSEY CITY: 
Printkd by John H. Lyon, 

—1874— 






o.Ta. 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE HUDSON COUNTY BAR. 



Proceedings of the uieetiug of the Bar of Hudson 
county, lield in the Common Council Chamber, at the City- 
Hall, in Jersey City, on Monday, the Vth day of June, IS'ZS, 
to take suitable action upon the death of the late Chan- 
cellor Abraham O. Zabriskie. 

The Honorable Joseph D. Bedle was called to the chair, 
and Isaac Romaine was appointed secretary. 

REMARKS BY JUDGE BEDLE. 

The death of Chancellor Zabriskie, so sudden and 
unexpected, almost shocks us to silence. A few weeks 
ago he left his home, just freed from the cares of a 
great ofhce, apparently buoyant with health and giving 
promise of a ripe old age, and to-day we meet to mourn 
his loss and bear him to the tomb. The event has cast 
a deep gloom over this community. Here he lived for 
years, here he attained his greatest successes, and here, 
amongst his professional brethren and friends, will he 



be mostly missed. His loss, however, is not confined 
to us immediately, for his learning, ability and personal 
worth were acknowledged and appreciated throughout 
and beyond the State. T well remember the night of 
his departure upon his fatal journey. To him, it was 
the entrance upon a series of observations and enjoy- 
ments, which would be a fitting change and relief from 
the labors of his judicial career, and when ended, would 
result in renewed vigor and preparation for further 
usefulness and duty. He felt, as could be readily told 
from his conversation, that he was fully able physically 
to meet all the toil and exigencies of the trip. He 
succeeded in crossing the continent, but on his return, 
while tarrying at Truckee, a little village upon the 
Sierra Nevada, he fell a victim to disease, and most 
unexpectedly died. He intended, as I am informed, 
to reach home in life, the very day his body was 
brought thither by his faithful friend Mr. Knapp. 
We meet now in the deep solemnity of the occasion, 
to pay a last tribute to his memory and to give expres- 
sion to our grief. 

Chancellor Zabriskie was a most remarkable man, 
both in physical appearance and in intrinsic mental 
strength. Those who saw him for the first, knew 
at once that he was no ordinary man, and those who 



were familiar with him, and especially those who 
experienced the weight of his power as a professional 
antagonist, well understood that it was great and for- 
midable. He was a thoroughly read lawyer, and while 
at the bar, excelled in the science of the common law. 
His mind was eminently practical, and could easily 
adapt itself to the plainest comprehensions. In this 
was one of the secrets of his success as an advocate. 
He was fertile in analogies', and used the plainest facts 
and principles of every day life with wonderful facility, 
to illustrate his arguments. In this he had no equal 
at the bar. That quality was always felt before a jury, 
and frequently was dangerously effective against an 
adversary before educated minds. Though possessing 
that faculty in so high a degree, he was always pro- 
found and learned in a purely legal argument. His 
research was careful and courts were always aided by 
the results of his labor and reflection. I heard an 
eminent judge, who for years adorned the bench of 
the Court of Errors and Appeals of this State, and 
whose just judgment of men all will concede, say that 
Mr. Zabriskie had no superior in strength before that 
court. 

As a chancellor, he served the State with hiithful- 
ness, and promptly, ably and satisfactorily performed 



the duties of the office. His judicial record will always 
be regarded as a very valuable part of our juris- 
prudence. 

As presiding officer of the Court of Errors and 
Appeals, he was dignified, yet genial, and in the labors 
and conferences of that court I have seen some of the 
most striking evidences of his learning and fertility 
of thouo'ht. 

o 

As a neighbor and friend I shall miss him very much. 
He had social qualities of a high order — cultivated, 
rational and refined. To those who knew little of him, 
his appearance might not always indicate how good a 
heart he possessed, but all who partook of his hospi- 
tality or saw much of his daily life, knew that he was 
companionable, considerate and kind to others, in a 
high degree. 

To his great abilities was added great industry, and 
these, with his integrity, which was undoubted, enabled 
him under Providence to rise to the summit of his 
profession, and now, after having served the State in 
its highest judicial office with honor and usefulness, 
and while his vigor was unimpaired, and death appar- 
ently remote, he is taken from us most unexpectedly, 
leaving by that very fact the prominence of his char- 
acter more distinct, and the force of his example the 



greater. Such men are a serious loss to us all. For 
life at best is but short to acquire a profound knowl- 
ede-e of the law, and when obtained, accompanied 
with the fruits of experience and a ripe judgment, the 
benefit is not alone to the individual, but to the public 
at large. His example is a bright legacy to the pro- 
fession, and the qualities that made him great should 
be noted and imitated. 



On motion, the cliair appointed the following Committee 
on Kesolntions: Aukaiiam S. Jackson, Isaac W. Souduer, 
Pkter Bentlev, .Taoob Weaht, Washington B. Williams. 

The committee retired and reported the following reso- 
lutions, which were unanimously adopted : 

Resolved, By the death of Chancellor Zabrtskte, New 
Jersey has lost one of her most eminent citizens. 

He was possessed of a mind stored with useful, practical and 
scientific knowledge, whicli rendered his services of great value 
in those enterprises of public improvement which has marked 
the character and attended the progress of our country. IIis 
judgment was sound and his sagacity far-reaching, and, as a 
man, familiar with general aftairs, he achieved a distinguished 
reputation. 

As an Advocate, possessed of a facility of illustration, an 
untiring energy and great scope of )uind, he was among the 
most powerful men of his time. 



As a Lawyer^ he was among the most learned ; with the 
ability to apply, with great etfect, his varied acquirements, 
in the causes in which he was engaged. 

As Surrogate and Prosecutor of the Fleas of the County of 
Bergeu, he evinced a care, industry and ability, wluch gave 
evidence of his iitness for those iini)ortant positions. 

As a Member of the Legislative Department of the (lovern- 
raent, lie left his impress on the laws of our State, many of our 
important statutes having been framed by him and passed at 
his suggestion. 

He pel-formed the arduous duties of Chancellor of tlie State 
with a promptness, energy and ability which challenged the 
admiration and won the respect and confidence of the profes- 
sion and the public. 

The State Constitutional Convention, over whose deliber- 
ations lie had been called to preside, had formed the highest 
expectations from his mature judgment and large experience, 
and will greatly miss him in their deliberations. 

As a Man, he was kind, generous and Itenevolent. He culti- 
vated with success those social virtues, which shed a charming 
influence upon society, and in his frieiidsliips, iie was sincere 
and devoted. 

We, his associates, looked forward with the exjiectation that 
our de}tarted Friend would have enjoyed an old age of useful- 
ness and repose, shedding around his declining years, those 
mellowed rays, which would attract l)y their charm and soothe 
by their mildness ; but in this we have been disappointed. 
Our memory of his eminence will be his monument, and our 
grief the tribute to his loss. 



9 



Pk,esoloed^ That we sincerely condole with the members of 
his family, at their sudden bereavement, and tender to them 
onr heartfelt sympathy. 

liesolved, That the Secretary of this meeting transmit a 
copy of these resolutions to his family, and cause the same to 
be published in the daily newspapers, and that the courts of 
the County of Hudson be requested to enter the same on their 
minutes. 



REMARKS ON RESOLUTIONS. 



REMAKKS BY MR. JACOB WEART. 

Mr. Chairman — But a few days ago, we bore to the 
tomb the remains of our lamented friend, the Hon. 
Joseph F. Randolph, and before the year had com- 
pleted the first half of its cycle, the sad announcement 
fell upon our ears that the late Chancellor was no 
more; and the bar is again convened, by that mes- 
senger who comes so unexpectedly, and at an hour 
that we know not of, to call us hence. To the de- 
parted, death came without a warning, his sickness was 
very short, and he passed out of the world unconscious 
that his end was approaching. And we are assembled 
to express our sentiments upon his worth as a man, to 
extend our sympathies to his bereaved family, and to 
put upon record a parting word of the loss which has 
fallen to our profession. 

When I came to Jersey City in 1852, a friendless 



11 

stranger in this city, I soon found in Mr. Zabriskie a 
warm personal friend; he was very kind to me, he in- 
vited me into his family circle, he assisted me in every 
way he could professionally, his extensive law library 
was always open to me, and in this way we became 
strong personal friends. I was a great admirer of his 
profound learning and ability as a* lawyer ; and his 
fame as a counsellor and advocate had became a house- 
hold word to the bar and people of the State, as will 
be seen by a short reference to our political history. 

In the year 1859, His Excellency, William A. 
Newell, selected Mr. Zabriskie as his first choice for 
Chancellor, and nominated him to the Senate, and the 
Senate being politically opposed to the Governor de- 
clined to confirm the nomination, and the memorable 
struggle was entered into, which left the State for a 
year without a Chancellor. 

At the ensuing election. His Excellency, Charles S. 
Olden was elected Governor, but the Setiate remained 
politically opposed to hiui. I remember to have 
visited Governor Olden, at Princ(;ton, to present the 
name of Mr. Zabriskie for the office of Chancellor, and 
after the legislature convened, Governoi' Olden ad- 
vised me that he Avould nominate Mr. Zabriskie as 
Chancellor, provided he could be confirmed, but if he 



12 

could not be confirmed, he thought the interests of the 
State required that his name should not be sent in, but 
another nomination made ; and he gave Mr. Zabriskie's 
friends time to see if the confirmation could be secured; 
but the memory of the struggle of the year previous 
was too fresh and bitter to allow of his confirmation. 
When His Excellency Marcus L. Ward was elected in 
1865, and it became known that the ofiice of Chancel- 
lor would become vacant, the bar of the State generally 
looked to Mr. Zabriskie as the coming man, and he was 
accordingly nominated and confirmed, I mention 
these facts to show what a strong hold he had upon 
the public confidence, having been the first choice for 
the office of Chancellor of three successive Republican 
Governors, 

Our chairman having spoken of him as a Chancel- 
lor, I desire to call attention to a few other remarkable 
traits of his character. Mr. Zabriskie was a lawyer 
and not a politician, yet he took a deep interest in all 
of the affairs of State, and the crowning act of his life 
was his opposition and defeat of the extension of the 
monopoly grants to the Camden and Amboy Railroad 
Company. 

I attended the great public meeting at Park Hall, 
in this city, where he was the chief public speaker, 



13 

and his power and eloquence on that occasion was so 
great, that he fairly thrilled his audience ns it were 
by an electric shock ; he repeated liis speech before a 
committee of the legislature at Trenton, and the ex- 
tension of tlie monopoly was dead. Great as Mr. 
Zabriskie's services were in the two higliest courts of 
the State where he presided, in my judgment they fall 
infinitely short of his great struggle for the rights of 
the people of the State in his successful effort to defeat 
the extension of the monopoly privilege, and the 
result is, that to-day we have a free railroad law; with- 
out his aid, we would most likely still have remained 
under the monopoly power, and would have so con- 
tinued until 1889. 

Before I close I would like to add a tribute to him 
as a student for the benefit of the young. Mr. Zabris- 
kie started out in life with the design of acquiring 
knowledge and making himself useful in his day and 
generation. He told me that although his father re- 
sided within twelve miles of Princeton college, and 
that he kept horses and servants, so that he could have 
sent for him at any time, yet when he went to Prince- 
ton, at the opening of the session, he remained there 
until the session closed, as he did not wish to have his 
course of study l>.roken in upon by journeys to visit his 
parents and friends. 



u 

Mr. Zabriskie never got above tlie books, and always 
consulted authorities. I was struck with this on one 
occasion. I went to employ him as counsel in an im- 
portant matter, and after a sliort consultation about the 
case, he suggested that we turn to the books; he 
said, I always like to consult autliority and be guided 
by established principles and decisions. 

He was a warm personal friend, T ever f)und him so 
through life, but he has gone. He passed away distant. 
from his home, and amid strangers, upon the western 
slopes of the Pacific ; he was however full of years, 
full of honors, he liad earned a fame which will go 
down to posterity as long as reports are read, and the 
law is lionored ; and the hist tribute that that we can 
offer, is a tear by the side of his bier. 



REMAl^vS BY PION. CHARLES TT. WINFIEI.D. 

Mr. Chainnan — I cannot let tliis occasion pass with- 
out bearing testimony to the worth of my former 
teacher, guide and friend. No man, said tlie great 
philosopher, can be considered great until ho is dead; 
but those who best knew Chancellor Zabriskie will admit 



15 

that it did not need death, in whose awlal presence envy 
and all the baser passions of the soul are still, to issue 
the patent of his nobility, lie was, while yet among 
us, in himself and of himself, every inch a king ; not 
from fortuitous circumstances, but from making hmiselt 
an embodiment of the truth of the Roman maxim, 
q u isq lie 81101 furtiiu ce faber. 

Three years as a student under him, and part ot that 
time at a table in his private office inspired me with a 
high appreciation of his legal acquirements, and his 
sterling qualities as a man. At that time he represented 
this county in the State Senate, the only political office, 
I believe, he ever held. Twelve years afterward, when 
I had the honor to represent this county in the same 
body, an incident occurred which it is now permissible 
to make public, inasmuch as he whom it most concerned 
is no more. The remarks of Mr. Weart have brought 
it to my recollection. Pardon the reference which a 
recital of the incident makes to myself: 

Just previous to his nomination to the office of Chan- 
cellor, and while those in the opposite political party 
knew notliing of the Governor's plans, or that Mr. 
Zabriskie's name was to be presented, he and 1 were 
walking from the depot to our hotel in Trenton, when 
he asked me if I had any objection to his being nomi- 



16 

nated to the Chancellorship ; at the same time remark- 
ing that he was getting somewhat advanced in years 
and would like to close his professional life with that 
honorable j)osition. Without hesitation the assurance 
was readily given that, I not only had no objection, 
but would gladly assist in furthering his wishes. To 
understand the point of his inquiry, it may be proper 
to observe that, at that time the Senate was composed 
of eleven Republicans and ten Democrats. Mr. Za- 
briskie, by "his manly course upon certain railroad 
questions, a few years previously, had become ob- 
noxious to a particular corporation which then held 
no inconsiderable control in the State. At least one 
Senator on the Republican side was of that corporation. 
A few days afterward Mr. Zabriskie's nomination was 
sent in by the Governor. Combinations were imme- 
diately made for his rejection in the Senate. The 
Democrats acting as a unit, with the assistance of one 
Republican, were sufficient for that purpose, and that 
assistance was assured. A caucus was called to com- 
plete the plans. The ten of the opposition were there. 
Among them were grey-headed men, men of ability 
and experience. Views were expressed, and they 
were adverse to the confirmation. Being the youngest 
and least experienced of the body, my opinion was 



17 

last called for. It was freely given. How could they 
ask me to do such a great wrong to the man who had 
guided my footsteps to an honorable profession, who 
had given me his friendship when a poor, friendless 
boy, and how could I, now that the opportunity was at 
hand withhold my gratitude. I was sorry to differ 
from my friends, but honor compelled me to vote for 
his confirmation and a caucus had no right to decree 
otherwise. If it insisted upon such right I must ask 
leave to withdraw. Much to their credit, several 
Senators approved of my course and we were all left 
free to vote as we pleased. Thus the opposition was 
disorganizf.d and the nominee's confirmation assured. 
To me the result was profoundly gratifying, and the 
privilege of doing what I did remains one of the 
pleasures of memory. He died without knowing the 
history of that struggle. 

How often since his death have I recalled his wish 
to close his professional life with the high oflice he so 
ably filled. It has turned out to be more real than 
either of us thought. But a few days intervened be- 
tween the laying aside of his official robes and his 
death. Bnt a few days ago we appeared before him, 
the judge ; to-day, upon his coffin we mingle our tears. 
He stepped from the bench to the tomb ; he filled his 



18 

term of office and died. Thus he lives in our memory 
as a Chancellor meeting in full the judicial require- 
ments of Lord Bacon, rather learned, than witty ; 
venerable, than plausible; and more advised, than 
confident. 



COMMUNICATION FROM MR. W. B. WILLIAMS. 

Mr. A. S. Jackson stated that he had received fi-om Mr. 
Williams, who was unavoidably absent, a few written re- 
marks, with the sentiments of which lie fully concurred, and 
which he would ask leave to read, as follows : 

One of the most prominent figures which I recall in 
looking back to the beginning of my professional life, 
is that of Mr. Zabriskie. There were giants in those 
days at the New Jersey bar, both in body and mind. 
Mr. Asa Whitehead, Gov. Pennington, Mr. Whelpley, 
Mr. Dayton, Chief-Justice Green and others, then in 
full vigor, were all men of commanding presence as 
well as of powerful intellect. We students used to 
look up to their tall, dignified forms, so different from 
our own and from the men of to day, and which united 



19 

with courtly manners and with distinguished skill and 
eloquence to fill out the ideal of the leading lawyer. 
Mr. Zabriskie was their peer — and as early as I can 
remember was among the foremost. In Bergen county 
he had held almost absolute sway over juries, and it 
did not take him long to show that he was worthy of 
the utmost attention and confidence from our own 
citizens. 

His manner in court I remember with much pleasure. 
He would often commence his address in a low tone, 
scarcely audible, and with apparent embarrassment. 
Then he would place one foot on a chair, and leaning 
confidentially toward the jury, would attract their 
attention by that wonderful illustration of the horse, 
which he could somehow apply to every case as aptly 
as ever an anecdote of Mr. Lincoln's fitted its object. 
And soon he would glide into a copious flow of state- 
ment and illustration supplied from his keen memory 
of the testimony, and ingenious analogies, emphasized 
often by the weight of his own assertion or opinion, 
and sometimes rising into the plane of eloquence. 
His strong points, however, were his clear and homely 
way of putting the case to the jury, coupled with 
untiring patience and Protean ingenuity in presenting 
the law to the court. 



20 

In the office he was a most valuable adviser. His 
apprehension was as quick as the statement; he was 
familiar with decided cases, and with principles, and 
his strong practical sense showed him almost intuitively 
how they would apply. His perception of character 
was keen ; he was eminently a man fitted for active 
life, not a literary man or a book- worm, though his 
fine library attested his taste and love for books. His 
manner and bearing: added m'eat weis^ht to what he 
said in consultation, and he was both by his physical 
and mental characteristics decided and positive in his 
view^s. Yet he was not opinionated. When, as must 
often happen even to the wisest, further discussion or 
reflection indicated that he was mistaken, no man was 
more ready to admit the error and correct it. 

To some degree he paid the debt every good lawyer 
owes to his profession, for he was the law reporter 
from 1847 to 1853, and his reports are without doubt 
the best we have had in this State. They set forth in 
general, a clear statement of the case, and important 
arguments of counsel ; and their head-notes are, so far 
as I know, unexceptionable. Besides, it so happened 
that during that period the Supreme Court discussed 
many interesting and important legal rules. Local 
and special legislation had not then attained such evil 



21 

frequency and confusinn^ diversity as now, when they 
overwhehii the court with dry and uninstructive con- 
troversy, and follow us like the frogs of Egypt into 
our towns, our streets, our sewers, our local adminis- 
tration, and almost our bed-chambers. 

The worthy aim of a lawyer's ambition, a dignified 
post in the administration of public justice, where his 
hard-earned knowledge and experience can be of the 
greatest service in maintaining right and redressing 
wrong, was attained by Mr. Zabriskie, as a fitting close 
to his honorable career. 1 will not speak of any par- 
ticular cases he decided, nor of his judicial qualities, 
as others of greater experience will do this. 

Bat I w^ould remind you of the patience and atten- 
tion with which he listened, while Chancellor, to the 
crude arguments of junior counsel ; and explained to 
them the practice of the court, which he like his 
learned predecessor, labored to make efficacious and 
uniform. The rules of court and many decisions testify 
to the pains he took in this direction. 

But what is fir more and nobler than kind attention, 
or forbearance, or practical skill, he loved justice as it 
should be loved — not because it is on the whole the 
best policy in human affairs, but for its own sake, for 
its inherent beauty and fitness, and as the noblest 



attribute of either man or God. And he sought to 
administer it, not like a calcuhiting machine or a logic 
mill, but as a man with the feelings of humanity, to 
whom nothing human was foreign, who could know 
and sympathize with human passions and impulses ; 
who could feel affectionate pity for oppressed inno- 
cence, hatred of fraud, and holy anger against bold 
and unblushing guilt. 

With these convictions, I am full of sorrow that he 
has so soon passed away. I could have wished him to 
remain in his ripening old age to adorn the bench or 
the Senate ; or if in this day of base rotation that were 
too much to ask, then that he might have walked 
before us slowly down the vale of years, the Nestor of 
our bar. But all this is cut off: and we have suffered 
a loss which we can only submit to, and which it is 
useless to bewail. The death of a good and great 
man leaves his good example cleared of his defects or 
weaknesses, for us to follow. We have a right too, to 
believe, that such noble and masterful faculties as his, 
are not to be forever laid away in inaction or obscurity; 
but that they will be brought out by the Lord of all 
worlds to be put to some great and worthy purpose, 
in those vast unknown regions which are full of all 
past humanity, and whither we also are bound. 



23 



BEMARKS BY MR. ISAAC S. TAYLOR. 

Mr. Chairman — The sorrow that is felt and has 
been so unmistakeably evinced, to-day, by those of 
his professional brethren to whom through the asso- 
ciation of many years, Chancellor Zabriskie had en- 
deared himself, is I know fully shared by many who 
have but recently entered upon their legal career, 
and whose attachments to the deceased were formed 
in later years. And we, young members of the bar, 
have just cause for grief, in that one who was ever 
ready to assist us by valuable counsel, and to encour- 
age us by cheering words, has been suddenly claimed 
and stricken down by death. 

Especially do I — but a very few years since his 
pupil in the law — desire to add at this time a slight, 
but a heartfelt, tribute to his memory. And in so 
doing I am confident that I shall speak the sentiments 
of all who have been privileged to call him their 
instructor. 

It is not always — nor indeed very often — that the 
preceptor acquires and retains a large and warm 
place in the esteem of the pupil. And many an 
instructor, in terminating his peculiar relation with 



24 

his scholar, closes the latter's heart to affectionate 
remembrances of him. 

Particularly in a profession where the instruction 
of others is but incidental to other duties, it would 
not be surprising if amid the press of business, and 
constant wear of mind and energy, the lessons taught 
should be instilled with no accompaniment which in 
after years would render the method of tuition a 
pleasure of memory." 

But I am sure that to-day, though saddened as 
we are by the thought that he is no more, there is 
nothing but pleasure and love in the breasts of his 
students as they recall the days and years passed 
under the tutelage of Mr. Zabriskie. 

His careful work in establishing the principles of 
the law in their minds — his willing explanations of 
what was hard to be understood — the wonderfully 
varied practical methods of illustration whereby he 
made what were apparently the most obscure and 
difficult matters perfectly intelligible to those under 
his charge — and in short, his zealous and faithful 
attention to their instruction cannot be forgotten by 
them, or remembered with aught but happiness and 
thankfulness. 

He not only impressed their minds with a sense 



25 

of his own deep researches in, and thorough mastery 
of his profession, but produced in them an interest 
in the object of their study, which under his guid- 
ance could not lessen or grow cold. 

He was as conscientious, and as ready to exert the 
powers of his practical mind, in the discharge of 
his duties to those whom he was instructing, as in 
the fuUillment of his obligations to his clients — and 
there was no faithlessness towards them. 

To these characteristics he added the constant 
exhibition of kindness, consideration and sociability, 
and thus secured the respect and love of those 
about him. 

His students were always welcome to his home. 
His general, as well as his law library was at their 
disposal, and they were made to realize his interest 
in them. Nor did this interest cease when their 
formal relations to each other were at an end. Coun- 
sel was as freely and fully given — assistance as gener- 
ously bestowed, and the same genial, social qualities 
as constantly evinced through succeeding years. 

It is not for me to refer to his course at the bar 
and on the bench, or in the various positions of trust 
and confidence in which he was so frequently placed 
— but I have spoken of him as he was known and 



26 

loved of me. And now, realizing the fact that he 
has gone, there shall remain in calling him to mind 
only thoughts fragrant with gratitude, and memories 
of respect and honor. 

On motion of Mr. Weart it was ordered tliat the chair be 
requested to pronounce, or appoint some person to pronounce 
a eulogy on the life and character of the late Chancellor, 
at the opening of the October Term of the Hudson County 
Circuit Court. 

Owing to Judge Bedle's constant engagements in Court, 
he was prevented from preparing the eulogy himself, but 
appointed the Hon. Isaac W. Scudder to j^^'^^i^ounce the 
same. 



PROCEEDINGS AT THE COUllT HOUSE, 

At the Opening of the October Term, 1873. 



REMARKS BY MR. JACOB WEART. 

May it Xilease the Court— \i becomes my painful 

duty to announce to the court, that since the last 

reo-ular term, our late lamented friend, Chancellor 

Zabriskie, has passed away. For many years he was 

the leading lawyer of this county, and we looked to 

him as the Nestor of the bar— he participated in all 

the struggles of this people, and was their counsellor 

in public and private affairs ; from the scenes of his 

labors here, he was asked by the State to come up 

hio-her and was made Chancellor. It is fit and 

proper that when one so distinguished in pubUc 

and private station passes away, that we pause for 

a while, and lay aside our business and cares, and 

direct our thoughts to the memory of the dead. 

The bar has taken suitable action in relation to 



28 

their bereavement, and at a meeting held in the 
Common Council Chamber, on the seventh day of 
July last, a series of resolutions were unanimously 
adopted, which it affords me great pleasure to now 
read and present to the court; and at that meeting 
a person was selected to prepare and pronounce a 
suitable eulogy upon his life and character at the 
opening of the term this day. 

I would therefore move, your honor, that the 
resolutions be entered upon the minutes of the 
court, and that the court do now adjourn. 



REMARKS BY JUDGE BEDLE. 

The resolutions read, are a truthful and fitting 
tribute to the memory of Chancellor Zabriskie. It 
is just that this court should make a record of the 
death of so distinguished a judge, and a lawyer so 
learned and able. It is ordered that the resolutions 
be entered at large upon the minutes, and also that 
out of respect to the memory of the deceased, the 
court do now adjourn. 



29 



On motion, :i meeting of the bar was organized. 

Judge Bedle was called to take the chair, and Mr. Jona- 
than Dixon was appointed secretary. 

The chair annonnced that the Hon. Isaac W. Scudder liad 
been selected, as provided by a previous resolution, to pro- 
nounce the eulogy. 

Mr. Scudder then pronounced the eulogy. 

After the eulogy had been pronounced, it was move<l that 
the chair api)oint a committee of five to request a copy of 
the eulogy for }»ublication, and that the committee prepare 
and publish for the use of the bar, the eulogy, resolutions, 
remarks made at the bar meeting, held at tlie Cit}' llall, 
and such other matter as they may deem advisable. 

The chair appointed Messrs. Weart, Dixon, Williams, Gil- 
christ, and Ransom such committee. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Jersey City, October 8, 1873. 

Hon. Isaac W. Scudder : 

Dear Sir — The bar of this county desire to express their 
deep sense of gratitude for the eulogy pronounced by you 
upon the character, life and public services of the late 
lamented Chancellor Abraham O. Zabriskie. 

At a meeting of the bar, a resolution was unanimously 
passed requesting that you furnish a copy for publication, 
and we the undersigned, were appointed a committee to 
solicit from you a copy, and to publish the same. Hoping 
that you. will comply with the request, w^e remain Avith great 
respect, 

Yours, very truly, 

JACOB WEART, 
JONATHAN DIXON, 
W. B. WILLIAMS, 
ROBERT GILCHRIST, 
S. B. RANSOM, 

Cotnmittee. 



31 



Jersey City, October 15, 1873. 

Jacob Weaut, Esq., Chairman: 

2)grtr Sir^At your request I place in your hands the 
address made by me at the opening of the court in Hudson 
county, at the present October term, on the occasion of the 
announcement of the deatli of our friend and neiglibor, 
Chancellor Zabriskie, whose loss caused us so much grief. 
I regret tliat the short time in which it was prepared did 
not afford sufficient opportunity to do justice to a man, who 
was so highly appreciated by us, as a judge, a friend and 
a citizen. 

Yours truly, 

I. W. SCUDDER. 



n 



ADDRESS BY HON. ISAAC W. SCUDDER. 

It is well that there are periods io the history of 
men when they are willing to forget their jealousies 
and rivalries, and with a common sentiment and united 
voice, both feel and express their appreciation for and 
admiration of those who by labor and good conduct 
have achieved eminence and distinction. We bestow 
praise upon the artist who with great skill groups and 
combines on the canvass scenes from nature or history; 
we dwell with pleasure on the animated narrative of 
the historian ; the genius of the poet kindles our en- 
thusiasm ; deeds in arms excite our love of the heroic; 
and we follow the grand discoveries of men of science, 
wondering at the extent to which they can penetrate 
the laws of the universe, and the facility with which 
they can apply them to the advancement of mankind. 
The statesman, though he may be covered with 
obloquy in his time, has the appreciation of succeed- 
ing generations. The eminence which is achieved 
by the professional man, it too frequently happens, 
lives only in the memory of his cotemporaries, and 
the historian is scarcely alive to the consciousness 
of his existence. Yet while this is so, the dis- 



33 

cipline, the protracted labor, the abstraction of 
mind, and the great struggle which gives dis- 
tinction to the lawyer of rank and eminence, 
would in some other pursuits win a degree of fame 
which would be transmitted to many generations. 
How much of patience, of labor, of tact, of endurance, 
and even of heroic effort, is oftentimes displayed in 
the hfe of the lawyer, which if evinced by the soldier, 
the statesman, the man of science, or letters, would 
win an enduring fame. 

But let us pass from generalities to particulars. One 
from among us, familiar to us by the intercourse of 
every day life, distinguished as a lawyer and a judge, 
has departed, and we are called upon on this occasion 
to express our appreciation of his merits and his 
character. 

The family of Mr. Zabriskie was well known in New 
Jersey, and this is not the occasion for a biography, 
but for the expression of our views of his life and 
character as a man, a lawyer and a judge. Like the 
sturdy oak, he was somewhat slow of growth; no pre- 
cocious brilliancy, no showy flowers of a short sea- 
son marked his development. Amid a quiet, slow, 
agricultural people, who held on to the traditions of 
the past, rather than courted the developments of the 



34 

future, lie grew to the maturity of bis intellectual 
powers, and in the county of Bergen he gathered 
strength which lasted during his life. In this, how 
great was his advantage ! The man who at an early 
age is thrown amid the stir, excitement and strife of 
the city, even though careful not to waste his powers, 
is apt to be forced to a too rapid growth. Early 
brilliancy and energetic effort, stimulated by surround- 
ing influences, oftentimes pass away before the meri- 
dian of life has been reached. At Hackensack, Mr. 
Zabriskie had time to lay broad and deep the foun- 
dation for the superstructure which was afterwards 
erected. Among the people of Bergen county, slow 
to give their confidence, but which when once given 
is lasting, Mr. Zabriskie won a degree of consideration 
which probably they have never bestowed more fally 
on any other man. 

In the year 1838 he was appointed Surrogate of 
the County of Bergen, and was reappointed to that 
office, which he held for ten years. But he was not 
content simply to learn the accurate statement of the 
accounts of executors and administrators, (and in this 
particular, the records of his office show that he was 
not excelled), but he acquired a knowledge of the 
history of ecclesiastical law as pertaining to the estates 



35 

of decedents, which made his counsels valuable at 
subsequent periods of his life. In the administration 
of that office, he evinced a method and accuracy 
which distinguished his life ; and the discipline and 
care about minute details here acquired lasted him 
ever afterwards ; and there was no man in the pro- 
fession, in litigated ca,uses in the Orphans' Court or 
Prerogative Court, whose services were more valuable 
than his. One of his associates in the profession, 
who, after he had left Hackensack, called him in to 
aid in a difficult cause in the Orphans' Court of 
one of our inland counties, the preparation of which 
had not originally been made by Mr. Zabriskie, 
said of him, that he readily mastered every detail 
of an intricate transaction, and argued the cause as 
if every witness had been before him, and every 
minute particular had been familiar to him. To 
use his expression, the dead manuscript on which 
the testimony was written, seemed to be alive. 

This illustrates in the man of intellectual power, the 
value of the discipline acquired by what is sometimes 
called useless drugery. 

In 1842, Mr. Zabriskie was appointed Prosecutor 
of the Pleas of the County of Bergen, an office 
which among the . order-loving and law-enforcing 



36 

people of New Jersey has seldom been bestowed 
on the unworthy. In this office he became master 
of the principles of the criminal law, and though 
aided by that strong sense of justice which always 
characterized the descendants of the Hollanders, no 
man in that county, amenable to the criminal law, 
went unpunished for lack of effort on his part. On 
account of the ability thus displayed, he was called 
upon frequently afterwards, both to prosecute and 
defend in criminal causes. He was reappointed to 
this office, and if I mistake not, before the expiration 
of his second term, he removed to Jersey City. In 
an agricultural county such as Bergen then was, Mr. 
Zabriskie was frequently called on to prosecute or 
defend civil causes, in which the title to land was 
involved. In this way he either became experienced 
as a practical surveyor, or developed that knowledge 
as a mathematician and a man of figures, which he had 
acquired, and which he took pleasure in exercising. 
He was familiar with the proprietary history of New 
Jersey, and he understood every patent in the old 
Field Book of Bergen county, and the common lands 
assigned to each patent. So much had this taste been 
cultivated, that after he became Chancellor, he had a 
copy of some portion of this ancient and valuable 



37 

record hnng up in his office, where it was ready for 
inspection. The reported cases in which he was en- 
gaged showed how thoroughly he was a hmd-lawyer ; 
and every member of the bar, in cases where the title 
to land was involved, felt how formidable Mr. Z. was 
as an adversary, and how much confidence and strength 
he acquired by his assistance. Samuel Berry — the 
old surveyor of Hackensack, who knew every tract of 
land from the Bergen line to the Kills, and by whom 
occupied, said to me, that Mr. Zabriskie was the 
most useful counsel in a land cause, that he knew. 
He thus acquired habits of patience and labor, so 
that tedious details, from which many able and 
brilliant men would turn away with aversion, became 
to him matters of pleasure, so long as the pursuit 
proved useful. 

Before he left Hackensack, in 1849, he had so 
impressed the Supreme Court by his thorough 
research, and his capacity for patient labor, that he 
was made reporter of that tribunal, and held that 
position until some time in the year 1855. 

He thus acquired a fondness for the pursuits of 
his profession, so much so, that I once heard a 
Hackensack lawyer, younger than Mr. Zabriskie, say 
of him, that in those days he took as much pleasure 



38 

ill the investigation and trial of a cause, as he did 
in eating- liis breakfast. Thus disci})hncd, with his 
armor well made and accurately fitted, he sought a 
wider field for the display of his powers, when in 
1849 he came to the county of Hudson to reside. 

When Mr. Zabriskie made his residence in the 
county of Hudson, he was no stranger among our 
people. The county of Hudson was set off from the 
county of Bergen in the year 1840. ILickcnsack, 
previous to 1840, was the county seat. Jurymen 
from the old township of Bergen, now Hudson 
county, assembled four times a year at Hackensack. 
These jurymen knew Mr. Zabriskie as a prominent 
lawyer who was engaged in every cause of import- 
ance in the county. Every man who proved a will, 
or administered on an estate came in personal contact 
with him. Political associations, which exert a large 
influence in our country, in agricultural districts, made 
the inhabitants from the New Jersey state line to 
Kill Von KuU somewhat acquainted with each other. 
The people of old Powles' Hook fought their political 
battles at a place located on the road to Hackensack, 
where the Tlirec Pigeons, perched on the top of the 
tavern sign, looked down on the combat with the 



39 



utmost complacency, without fluttering a wing or 
winking an eye. 

One of the results of this association of people was, 
that when Mr. Zal)riskie came to reside among us, 
having becMi to some extent a leader in politics in 
Bergen connty, he was taken up by the people of 
Hudson county and elected to the State Senate in 
the year 1850, and served for three years in tliat 
important post. His term of service included the 
years 1851, 1852 and 1853. Here he took an im- 
portant part in legislatio!i, and thus came in personal 
contact with many leading men in the State of New 
Jersey, which resulted greatly to his advantage in 
after years. 

He also took some part as one of the committee 
of citizens who framed the voluminous charter lor 
Jersey City, which was passed March 18, 1851, some 
of the provisions of which were drafted by him. 

His hand can be seen in many acts of the legis- 
lature wliich were passed while he was in the Senate. 

I will refer to two iin[)ortant bills drafted by 
him, and which became laws. 

The legislative enactments of a government are 
the monuments, which to a great extent guide the 
historian in tracing the progress of any people. The 



40 

wants and necessities, as well as the passions and 
prejudices of a nation are largely portrayed in the 
statute book. The movement to abolish imprison- 
ment for debt had its strongest impulse in the terri- 
tory comprised in the county of Hudson. Situated 
opposite the city of New York, we caught the im- 
pulse which moved the people of the great metropolis, 
and determined that the passenger who crossed our 
borders should no longer dread the Hackensack jail 
and its formidable keeper. Imprisonment for debt 
was abolished in the year 1840, and subsequently its 
perpetual prohibition was declared by the Constitu- 
tion of 1844. 

As a result new remedies were sousrht for. The 
man who furnished materials, or bestowed his labor 
in the erection of houses, desired to have a lien on 
that which his property or his industry created. 
The cautious lawyers, who held the doctrine, that 
a contract could not be binding unless by the 
consent of the party contracting, resisted the notion 
that there could be a lien on a building erected, 
except with the consent of the owner. The new 
order of things arising to some extent from the abo- 
lition of imprisonment for debt, led to the adoption 
of a new remedy, and the law of lien, derived so 



41 

largely from the civil law, arose in importance. Lien 
laws, as applicable to the erection of houses, were 
from time to time passed by the legislature, which 
were crude and badly digested, and which had only 
an application to certain districts in the State. 

Some of our ablest and most learned lawyers de- 
clared that these laws could not be carried into effect. 
Mr. Zabriskie, however, saw the tendency of the 
times, and with practical good sense and judgment, 
embodied the laws in a compact and working system, 
which has remained without serious alteration, and 
he so framed it, that whilst it afforded proper pro- 
tection to the material-man and the laborer, the 
capitalist and the man who desired to erect his own 
dwelling had a way pointed out, by which they 
could have sufficient freedom to carry on their enter- 
prises. 

Representing a county bounding on one of the 
noblest rivers and greatest harbors on the continent, 
destined to become great in the history of the nation 
by reason of its proximity to the commercial metrop- 
olis of this western empire, he became convinced 
that his constituents should have the benefit of that 
rule of the local common law of the State of New 
Jersey, which held that the shore owner could dock 



42 

out in front of his land below high water mark, so 
far as might be proper or necessary for commercial 
purposes. He framed, and by his influence passed 
the wharf act, every line of which showed practical 
wisdom; and though a different rule of law was de- 
clared by the Court of Appeals from that which was 
supposed to have prevailed in former years, yet in the 
celebrated case of Stevens against the Paterson and 
Newark Railroad Company, he maintained with great 
learning and marked ability the opinion which he had 
always held at the bar, and after he had ceased to 
have any personal interest in that kind of property. 
Though the riparian owner can now by making com- 
pensation to the State, acquire in a full and ample 
manner all the privileges of docking out into navi- 
gable waters, yet so strong has been and still is the 
feeling in those counties in New Jersey which border 
on the sea and the great rivers, that with the excep- 
tion of the Budd Tract and Black Tom's Reef, no 
grant has been made in front of the shore except 
to the riparian owner; and in those two cases, the 
concessions have been practically rendered of no 
avail, since the grants of the State have become 
ultimately vested in the riparian owners. When Mr. 



43 

Zabriskie left the Senate of New Jersey, he carried 
with him the esteem of the people of the State. 

In the year 1854, au act of the legislature of the 
State of New Jersey was passed, by which it was 
provided that the exclusive privileges commonly 
known as the Camden and Amboy Railroad monop- 
oly, should expire on the 1st of January, 1869. 
About that time there was much discussion in the 
State relative to the renewal of this monopoly grant. 
Mr. Zabriskie at that period took strong ground 
against the renewal of these monopoly privileges, 
and at a public meeting in Jersey City, declared that 
the people should, with pickaxe in hand, tear up the 
rails, rather than have so odious a contract perpetu- 
ated. For this expression of just indignation, he was 
called the captain of the Pickaxe Guard. The inde- 
pendent portion of the community, however, sus- 
tained rather than condemned his earnest declar- 
ations, and the State of New Jersey has been relieved 
from the obnoxious restriction. 

The practical character of Mr. Zabriskie's mind 
was evinced by the ability which he displayed as a 
railroad director, and to some extent a railroad man- 
ager. 

When it became necessary for the New York and 



44 

Erie Railroad Company to make their terminus at 
Jersey City, the manner in wliich that object should 
be accomplished was of serious importance. The 
finances of the company were not in the most pros- 
perous condition. In 1857, commercial disasters and 
bankruptcy came with their discouraging influences 
upon the country. Money was to be raised, and it 
required the credit of a new and distinct institution 
to accomplish that object. The Long Dock charter, 
which was passed February 2(j, 185G, was drawn by 
Mr. Zabriskie. Tliat company in name and in title 
to property was distinct from the New York and Erie 
Railroad Company. They had power to raise money 
by issuing bonds. The tunnel was built and the line 
of rails was laid from the west side of the Bergen 
Hill to the Hudson. The property purchased and 
filled in was ample to secure the bonds which were 
issued, and the Long Dock Company being a distinct 
association from the New York and Erie Railroad 
Company, had a character and credit of its own, and 
was not involved by the encumbrance of the several 
mortgages on the main line. The plan was a success, 
and the Paterson and Hudson River Railroad Com- 
pany was continued to the waters of the Hudson 
River through the tunnel, on the lands of the Long 



45 

Dock Company. Such is the recognized legal status 
of the Patersoii and Hudson River Railroad Company 
by the Supreme Court of our State — and such was 
the design of Mr. Zabriskie. He was one of the 
most trusted advisers of Nathaniel Marsh, under 
whose careful, judicious and econoiiiical management, 
the New York and Erie Railroad Company was con- 
tinued after he was appointed receiver, as the Erie 
Railway Company, and earned the dividends on the 
common and preferred stocks which were paid under 
his administration. 

In the year 1856, Mr. Zabriskie was elected a 
director of the New Jersey Railroad and Transpor- 
tation Comjiany, and held that position until he was 
made Chancellor in the year 18(50. 

He was not a nominal director but was placed in 
the important position of chairman of the executive 
committee of that company. He soon became master 
of all the affairs of the road, and gave his attention 
to the number of cars and locomotives which were 
required, the capacity of the work-shops, and the 
requirements of the road, and such was the accuracy 
of his mathematical mind, that he knew and retained 
in his memory the most minute details of the affairs 
of this corporation. 



46 

I once heard a railroad man brought up in this 
company say of certain plans which he suggested 
with reference to the working of the road, and which 
had received the approval of Mr. Zabriskie, that after 
such a sanction he did not feel much doubt of the 
result — such was his confidence in Mr. Zabriskie's 
judgment. All the duties which he performed as 
director of ihe road, were concurrent with an exten- 
sive practice in the law, in the management of cases 
which required learning, labor and sagacity, and in 
which he met as adversaries the ablest counsel of the 
State. 

He performed the arduous duties of Chancellor 
with a promptness which has never been surpassed 
by any other officer who has held that position. No 
cause ever unduly hung on his hands by reason of a 
want of time for its examination and decision. There 
was an increase of business in that court during his 
term of office, arising out of the extension of com- 
mercial and manufacturing affairs. He held his ollice 
during a period of great progress and growth. The 
business of the Court of Chancery was so arranged 
as to give facility to suitors, and his motion days for 
matters of practice and injunction were an exempli- 
fication of the system which characterized the man. 



47 

His decisions show a mind positive and independent, 
evince labor and research, and have established for 
Chancellor Zabriskie an enduring fame as a judge. 
Though some reversals may be pointed to in the 
Court of Appeals, it must be remembered that he 
did not have the advantage of his distinguished pre- 
decessor, Chancellor Green, who, before he became 
Chancellor, as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 
wieldin2: to some extent the united influence of the 
common law bench, exerted a controlling influence 
over the Court of Appeals. 

Men achieve distinction or acquire wealth by the 
manner in which they use their time. There must be 
a time for labor, for rest and recreation ; and the 
systematic distribution of time for occupation or re- 
pose becomes a matter of primary importance. When 
enira^'cd in })usiness he gave his whole attention to 
the matter before him. He had the power of ab- 
stracting himself from all other concerns except that 
which was before him. With him labor was a con- 
centrated power and continued elfort. His labors 
performed, he sought recreation. Ho attended the 
social entertainments given by others, and bore his 
part as if amusement and conversation were the sole 
concerns of his life. He brought others around him 



48 

at the social board, and then it appeared as if hospi- 
tality was his chief pleasure. He read miscellaneous 
literature and found time to keep up with the knowl- 
edge of the various discoveries in science and im- 
provement in art. He could and did give days, 
weeks and months to travel in his own land and 
European countries. The first time he went to 
Europe, he fixed previously the day of his departure 
and return, and mapped out his course of travel with 
most undeviating accuracy. If he designed any day 
to leave home and go to particular places, he fixed 
the time of his departure and return, and estimated 
with accuracy the period necessary to be occupied in 
the accomplishment of the object before him. Mathe- 
matical accuracy was one of the elements of his mind, 
and without apparent labor it seemed to be diffused 
over his life and controlled his conduct. To men of 
business he seemed to be in a most eminent degree a 
man of business. With those who sought to fill time 
by amusement as an occupation, he seemed as if his 
hours and days were given to similar pursuits. In his 
office his papers were arranged with system. His 
table was never encumbered by the broken piles of 
manuscript which is too often apt to be the case with 
the profession. 



49 

The chaotic confusion which mars hibor and dis- 
turbs the man of business, never diverted him from 
the pursuit of the object before him. It was said of 
Mr. Grattan, the distinguished Irish orator, that he 
would have been far more eminent if he had only 
known how to use red tape to tie up his papers. 

In Chancellor Zabriskie's case, there was no lumber 
garret, where documents and papers were piled away 
without system or without order. 

This was one of the characteristics of Mr. Horace 
Binney, one of the most eminent lawyers this country 
has produced. He could labor with patience and 
system in a cause, before the stir of the impending 
conflict aroused him to activity. I have heard busi- 
ness men speak of calling on Mr. Binney. Nothing 
but writing materials were found on his table to indi- 
cate that he was a man of labor. The thing talked 
of was in many cases done on the spot, and these 
matters practically ended. These peculiarities of 
business depended largely on the structure of the 
mind, but they are also the result of habit enforced 
by the power of the will. It is said of Cyrus the 
Great, who established an empire that long survived 
his own time, that being in a mechanic's shop and 
observing the number of tools used, and that the 



50 

master of the shop knew every tool by name, and the 
purpose for which it should be used, he thought 
it strange that a general should not know the names 
of all his captains, who are the instruments he must 
use in all his enterprises and operations. This ac- 
complished commander following the suggestion, 
made himself acquainted with the names, as well as 
the capacity of all his captains. The genius of this 
great monarch and soldier was thus aided by his 
knowledge, which was a matter of detail in business. 
Taking into consideration the combination of facul- 
ties and powers possessed by Chancellor Zabriskie, 
it may be said of him, that he was not surpassed at 
the bar of New Jersey, when he was at the noon-day 
of his career. He acquired a knowledge of a case 
with facility, though possibly not as rapid in his sur- 
vey as some of his cotemporaries. His industry 
searched out and explored not only the most promin- 
ent points, but also the most minute details. Though 
somewhat involved in the presentation of a case, no 
point of importance which would bear on the result 
was omitted. His great power was to illustrate the 
leading principles of a cause by practical examples. 
He was never known to argue a cause in which he 
took much interest, without presenting facts and 



51 

truths which appeared to be analogous, and by mean^ • 
of which he impressed his hearers with a conviction of 
the soundness of his propositions. In the Court of 
Appeals, where causes were decided with rapidity, 
and where the judges were men widely differing in 
education and habits of thought, apt illustrations 
which appeared to cover in every particular the cause 
before them, produced impressions which amounted 
to convictions. 

Talking before a jury in a simple and conversa- 
tional way, with a manner which seemed full of 
sincerity and truth, and illustrating point after point, 
by some homely simile drawn from the affairs of 
every day life, he arrested the attention, excited the 
feelings whether of favor or prejudice, and secured 
the conviction of the twelve. While he possessed 
this wonderful facility of illustration, a faculty some- 
what pecuHar to the poetical mind, he was not what 
would be called a man of imagination. Nobody 
would ever have accused him of writing a poem, or 
of laying the dramatic ground-work and building the 
fanciful structure of a novel. If we analyze the 
powers of his mind, the wonder was, that while he 
was in so eminent a degree mathematical, with an 
accurate knowledge of physical laws, he should at 



52 

the same time have been so fertile in illustrations and 
analogies to explain and enforce his meaning, a 
faculty which is generally supposed to be an element 
of the imaginative mind, 

Man's faculties are oftentimes like the minerals and 
the metals. They run in veins, while all the imme- 
diate surroundings are common earth or barren rock. 
Not so with Mr. Zabriskie. He was a full man. He 
evinced this in every occupation or position in which 
he was placed. While there were some veins of 
greater richness than others, the ore permeated the 
mass. He was able as a man of business, competent 
to direct in affairs small or large ; he was of great 
learning as a lawyer ; whether at nisi prius or before 
the bench, he had no superiors among his cotempo- 
raries in New Jersey ; and he was able as a judge. 
A person who can thus in varied positions display his 
powers, may be called a full man. 

Mr. Zabriskie was in the course of his life what our 
American people call a successful man. He was suc- 
cessful in many and varied ways. While he earned 
a fame which made him generally known among the 
people of the State and beyond our borders, he 
acquired property, and was looked to by men of busi- 
ness as eminently sagacious in the management of 



63 

affairs. The good opinion of his fellow-men, in this 
particular was manifested by his being made a di- 
rector and a trustee in so many institutions by which 
property and money were managed and controlled. 

He was a director in railroads, in a bank, in a life 
insurance and trust company ; a trustee of the old 
Jersey City Savings Bank ; a director of the Jersey 
City Gas Company; of a turnpike company, and of 
other institutions by which property is managed. 

In these places of trust he was not a mere nominal 
or silent officer. He understood well the affairs of 
each institution for which he was a trustee. He sug- 
gested and advised, and his voice frequently con- 
trolled the line of conduct which was pursued. He 
was positive in his opinions, maintaining them with 
firmness, and assigning reasons which frequently con- 
strained the action of others who sat around the 
board in like official positions with himself In these 
positions he commanded and enforced attention by his 
knowledge and will, rather than moved others by 
sympathetic influences. 

Under a manner which sometimes appeared cold 
and repulsive, there was a warm and generous spirit. 
He was ready and willing to serve his friends by 



u 

spending his time, his efforts and his money in their 
behalf. 

He was a social man, and gathered around him not 
only persons of rank and distinction, but those for 
whom he felt a personal interest. When he went on 
the last trip of pleasure and instruction, from which 
he never returned, he felt that he would have little 
enjoyment if he went alone. He sought the com- 
panionship of one well known to him, who had been 
an associate in professional struggles, and toward 
whom he felt the regard of a genuine friendship. 
Thus in his last hours he received that kind attention, 
that genuine sympathy, due only to those who are 
good and true, and which are among the highest 
tributes which mortals can bestbw on each other. 

He had passed through a life of labor, usefulness, 
distinction and honor. He had seen the peoples of 
the old world, and observed closely the operations of 
their institutions and laws. He had acquired a com- 
petency. He had retired from the highest judicial 
position of his State. He sought a more intimate 
knowledge of that vast continent, over a large por- 
tion of which, in his own time, he had seen the power 
and political institutions of his native country ex- 
tended. He passed the Rocky Mountains and viewed 



55 

that vast and varied domain, with all its beauty and 
grandeur, which stretches to the setting sun. Ira- 
pressed with glories of the most sublime natural 
scenerj^, having witnessed the unparalleled progress, 
of a great State, the offspring of our glorious Union, 
glittering with the rich robes and jewels of a younger 
sister, upon the shores of the Pacific ocean, he sought 
to return to his home there to celebrate with his 
family and his friends the nnniversary of that Declar- 
ation of Independence which gave birth to an empire, 
and to take his part among that body of men, who 
had been selected to frame anew a charter for a con- 
stitutional government. 

From such scenes and under such circumstances, he 
was called to that rest which belongs to the faithful 
and the true. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Jersey City, Jaxuary 3, 1874. 

Rev. W. H, Campbell, L. L. D. : 

Dear Sir — The friends of the late Chancellor Zabriskie 
are about to publish a memorial book or pamphlet to per- 
petuate his memory, containing the eulogy pronounced by 
the Hon. I. W. Scudder, &c. 

It would afford us much pleasure to be able to publish 
your sermon, pronounced upon the occasion of his funeral. 

If you can furnish us with a copy for publication, you 
will greatly oblige, and I remain. 

Very truly, yours, 

JACOB WEART, 

Chairman of Committee, 



57 



New Brunswick, Jaxuart 12, 1874. 

J. Weaut, Esq., Chairman, &c. : 

Dear Sir — I have received your note requesting for pub- 
lication a copy of the address delivered at the funeral of 
Hon. A. O. Zabriskie. I send it to you with pleasure, 
mingled with great sorrow at the loss of so dear a friend. 

With great respect, 

Yours, very truly, 

W. H. CAMPBELL. 



58 



SERMON BY DR. CAMPBELL. 



Here lies your dead friend, and here seated around 
his body are the living friends, who mourn his de- 
parture and are about to bear him hence for burial. 
And here, as is right, the ambassador of Christ is 
called on to speak to the living words befitting this 
occasion, and to speak of the dead those truthful 
words, which may instruct, comfort, strengthen and 
warn the living. And what shall be said to the 
living ? Those words of our Saviour are the most 
timely today : 

"Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour 
your Lord doth come." — Matt, xxiv., 42. 

In these words the Master speaks of himself and 
he speaks to you. He, who has come and taken away 
your friend, tells you to watch, because he is coming 
for you, and coming too without giving you any 
warning as to the lime of his approach. And as 
every one of these words is weighty, let us weigh 
them well. 

It is your Lord who here speaks, and who is 
coming lor you. Jesus of Nazareth, who lived on 
earth as a man of sorrows, and died as a malefactor 
on the cross, is your Lord. 



59 

Lord. His was a twofold nature. He was a true 
man in body and soul, that he might obey and suffer 
as a substitute for sinful men. He also became man 
to show the possibilities of human nature, when divine 
power had undertaken to raise it from its degrada- 
tion. But he was God also, the eternal and only be- 
2:otten Son of God. As such he thou2:ht it not 
robbery to be equal with God, though he had emptied 
himself of his glory, and made himself of no repu- 
tation, that he might do good to men. But as the 
Son of God he also holds and does the duties of a 
divine office, as the Word of God. As such the Son 
is the Spokesman of Deity, and every revehition of 
himself, which God has ever made to men, has been 
effected through the Son in his office of the eternal 
Word. 

I4 Thus it was he who spoke this world into being. 
"All things were made by him; and without him was 
not anything made that was made." And while "the 
heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament 
showeth his handy work," all this revelation of the 
wisdom, power and goodness of God, as seen in the 
visible creation, is made by the eternal Son, the 
Word, the Spokesman of God. 

2. By him too "all things consist," " upholding all 



60 

things by the word of his power," We speak of the 
physical laws by which the material world is kept in 
being, but we mean thereby that fixed and uniform 
course, whereby the Son of God holds in being the 
world he has created, and by which sustenance he, 
as the Word, makes a constant revelation of the wis- 
dom, power and goodness of God. There was then a 
depth of meaning in the Psalmist's words: "Day unto 
day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth 
knowledge. There is no speech nor language where 
their voice is not heard." That voice is the utterance 
of the divine Spokesman, making known with a 
ceaseless reiteration the glory of God. This daily 
upholding and governing of the physical world is 
giving evermore a new revelation of the wisdom, 
power and goodness of God. 

3. So also the Word has done and is doing his 
work of revealing God, by setting up and continuing 
a moral government in the world. 

It is necessary in order to have a moral govern- 
ment among men, that the subjects of it should be 
capable of knowing tlie just^ the good and the true, 
and feeling the duty, beauty and desirableness of 
having justice, goodness and truth' as the character- 
istics of oneself Now conscience in man fits him to 



61 

be thus a subject of moral government, and the Word 
has placed it in the human breast to be man's monitor 
and guide. Furthermore he has established here that 
fixed order of sequences, whereby rewards and pun- 
ishments are visited upon men according to their 
deeds. And the Word speaks both in conscience and 
this fixed order. That voice is ever audible. It says, 
it shall be well with him who heeds the Itiw of God, 
and it shall be ill with him who breaks its precepts. 
And it is the voice of the eternal Word who thus 
reveals the justice of God. 

4. And now when, in utter disregard of God speak- 
ing by conscience and the dispensation of rewards 
and punishments, man had trodden under foot the 
justice, goodness and truth of God, the Word comes 
to make his fourth revelation, transcending all others, 
the revelation of mercy, God pities sinners. He con- 
tinues inflexibly just, and yet becomes a Saviour. 
These two attributes, which appear to be so diametri- 
cally opposed to each other, are to be manifested in 
God, both in him in an infinite degree, and yet both 
in perfect harmony. Justice demands and must have 
full satisfaction for all the transgressions of the law, 
while infinite mercy demands and must have the full, 
free pardon of the transgressor. This revelation of 



62 

something hereafter to be accomplished the Word 
announced in Eden, when man began to sin. And 
ever after down along the track of time he spoke, 
unfolding little by little but ever more fully the 
wondrous story of the blended justice and mercy of 
God. At length the fullness of time having come, 
the full revelation burst at once upon the view of 
angels and men, when the incarnate Son of God was 
seen nailed to the cross, the substitute of sinners, and 
bearing for them the wrath of God. Thus the divine 
justice was fully satisfied, and thus the way was 
opened up for the mercy and love of God to be 
poured out upon sinners. 

Now then it is fully revealed. Man can become 
once more a son of God through the obedience and 
sufferings of Jesus the Mediator. He becomes too a 
son in expectancy of an inheritance. A home awaits 
him in the Father's house, and he is here preparing 
for it. The mansion in heaven is being made ready 
for him, and he on earth is being made ready for it. 
And in this preparation the fourth revelation of the 
Word has wondrous ejQficacy. What power is there 
in the teaching and life of Christ to free a man from 
the dominion of sin as well as from its guilt, when 
the Holy Spirit applies to the soul the truth that 



63 

there is in that life and teaching. Wonderful life, so 
just, so pure, so tender, so kind, so unselfish, so self- 
sacrificing, so unwearied in goodness, so perfect, in- 
finite in its mercy for sinners. It was indeed a revel- 
ation of God. And when the Holy Spirit opens a 
man's heart to see its beauty, and creates his heart 
anew so that he can feel that beauty, and love God 
and Christ because of it, it works wonders in the 
human soul. It transforms it into the divine image. 
It makes man a partaker of the divine nature. It 
begins in the soul a holiness like that of God, causing 
a joy in thinking of God and becoming like him, 
which is a foretaste of heaven as well as a preparation 
for it. Oh, this wonderful fourth revelation of the 
Son of God. What it has done for men ! What it 
is now doing ! What it shall hereafter do for them ! 
Blessed is he unto whom the Lord has thus come in 
the power of his fourth revelation. 

5. But the next revelation which the Word makes 
unto men, is when he comes as the Lord to take them 
away into the world of spirits. Then the unseen 
world, of which we now have knowledge by revel- 
ation alone, will be seen and known by consciousness. 
Then the connection between the present and the 
future, between the life here and the life after the 



64 

death of the body, will be made clear. And it will 
be seen that the present is the preparation for the 
future life — that keeping the heart here is most im- 
portant, since out of the kept heart alone are the 
issues of life — that he who sows to the flesh shall of 
the flesh reap corruption, while he alone who sows to 
the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 

This fifth revelation the Son of God, the Word, has 
now made to your deceased friend. . And soon it will 
be made to you. When, no one knows but the Re- 
vealer, your Lord. And therefore he gives you this 
exhortation, luatch. That is, be prepared for my 
coming for you by believing on me as the sacrifice 
for your sins, and as the source of grace by which 
you shall be prepared to dwell in my father's house 
above. Oh, what a revelation that new state of 
existence after death will be ! That state, as the 
Word shall make it known to each disembodied spirit 
by the ministry of angels, will be a revelation of un- 
speakable joy or of unutterable anguish, according as 
each has accepted or rejected the gracious invitations 
of Jesus Christ. All day long through the whole of 
the earthly life the voice of mercy calls on men to 
flee from wrath and to cast themselves upon the care 
of him who is mighty to save. All, who do so, will 



65 

have on dying a wondrous revelation of love and 
blessedness, when the enthroned King- will own them 
before the an^-els, who owned him araonn- men. And 
they will tlien know as never before what sorrow is, 
who, having despised the voice of mercy on earth, 
have naught to expect at death but the revelation of 
wrath. 

6. The last revelation of God to men, will be made 
by the Son of God, as all the others have been. This 
is to be made at the general judgment, which is to be 
conducted by Christ. "Because he hath appointed a 
day, in the which he will judge the \Yorld in righteous- 
ness by that man whom he hath ordained ; whereof 
he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath 
raised him from the dead." 

There is a peculiar fitness in the committing of the 
final judgment of the world to the Word. For since 
he everywhere else has spoken for God unto men, so 
here he speaks, making the last and fullest revelation. 
Then all the dark problems of earth will be solved ; 
its wrongs be made right, and all the ways of God to 
men be justified in the vindication of everything that 
is just, true and good, and in the condemnation of all 
that is unjust, fiilse and evil. And in that last judg- 
ment the glory of Christ will be plainly manifested. 



66 

By his godhead he will know all hearts and all 
actions. He will need none to help him in deciding 
each case at once and with perfect justice. And 
there will not be one in that vast assembly, countless 
to men or angels, who will have a word to say against 
his sentence, however heavily it may bear down upon 
the soul. 

The revelations at death and the judgment will be 
in accordance with the life here on earth. As one 
watches or neglects watching will there be hereafter 
joy or woe. And to watch is to heed all the four 
revelations of Christ, which have been already re- 
ceived. Especially must one heed the revelation of 
mercy, as made known in the gospel and displayed 
at Calvary. Get near the cross to gaze not only upon 
the dying lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of 
the world, but to have his precious blood drop upon 
you, sprinkle and save you. Say, as you dwell ever 
watchfully near it : 

" Nothing in my liand I bring, 
Simply to thy cross I cling ; 
Naked come to thee for dress, 
Helpless look to thee for grace; 
Foul I to the fountain fly, 
Wash me, Saviour, or I die." 

Be thus prepared for these awful future revelations. 



67 

And now I am to speak of the dead. Nor is the 
task difficult or irksome. It is botli easy and pleas- 
ant. Easy because the character had strongly marked 
features. It was, too, quite symmetrical. It had in it 
no contradictions, no politic concealments, none of 
the crookednesses, which spring from the hypocrisies 
of selfishness. Mr. Zabriskie's character was an epistle 
written in plain, legible letters, and it could be read 
and known by all men. It is also a pleasant and not 
an irksome task, say rather a privilege to describe 
this character. For it was a good character. One 
can dwell upon it with great satisfaction, mingled 
only with the regret, that he, who bore it, will be 
seen no more here. 

Everything about Mr. Zabriskie's mind was massive 
like his body. He had a great intellect. He was the 
first in his class at school, first in his class at college, 
first as a student of law, first as a lawyer at the bar, 
and first as a judge upon the bench. A distinguished 
lawyer, whose opinions have great weight with you 
all, told me that A. 0. Zabriskie was a lawyer, whom 
he always feared to have as his opposing counsel, 
because he was never sure before hand what his line 
of argument was going to be. And this remark of 
the brother lawyer touches the very point of Mr. Z.'s 



68 

intellectual character. He was a genias. He could 
discern the new, where there was the new to be dis- 
covered, and he could use it with all the powers of a 
mind, that was well betokened by his strong arm, 
which moved up and down, and back and forth most 
enerjetically, as he gave forth his weighty arguments. 
At the same time so well-balanced an intellect had he, 
that no inventive powers could lead him to disregard 
authority^ which ought to and must have so much 
weight in the law. And this regard for authority 
made him a diligent student in many departments of 
knowledge. He was well-read not only in law, but 
also in history, the natural sciences, anatomy, medi- 
cine and theology. And especially as any of these 
bore upon his own profession. And accuracy also 
marked him in every department of his studies. 
What he had studied at all, was thoroughly studied. 

He had also a great soul. By this I mean that he 
had large and strong affections. He had a large 
heart in his large body. Some men's aftections are 
strong, but their exercise is limited to kindred. Mr. 
Z. loved his relatives dearly, but his regards, sym- 
pathies and deeds of love extended far beyond the 
circle of his kindred. He was very undemonstrative 
as to what he felt and did in the wav of kindness and 



69 

beneficence. Much of what he did has become 
known by the information of the. benefitted. Nor 
did he weary of doing kindnesses, when he was 
treated ungratefully. Once when so treated a friend 
said to him, '^I suppose you have learned a lesson, 
which will keep you from ever doing a like deed." ' 
His reply was: "I would do it again under like cir- 
cumstances; for the needs of society require just 
such acts." Could the two last letters which Mr. Z. 
wrote (bearing dale a few days before his death and 
addressed to persons not his blood-relatives) be read 
to this assembly, none here would need further proof 
of the largeness of his heart. 

He was also a conscientious man. He took pains 
to know his duty, and when known he faithfully dis- 
charged it. As a boy, he was mirthful, full of fun, 
and even of harmless mischief. When he became a 
man, boyish fan gave place to cheerful manliness. 
And yet boyhood, manhood, middle life and riper 
years displayed a character without a blot. He has 
gone in and out among you at Millstone, Princeton, 
Newark, Hackensack and Jersey City, and bear wit- 
ness, fellow-citizens, whom of you has he ever in- 
. jured? Or who of you can accuse him of aught 
evil? 



10 

And now as to the greatest interest of all, was he 
watching when his Lord came ? 

On this point I have several remarks to make. Mr. 
Z. was a firm believer in the doctrines of the Re- 
formed Church, in which he was born, baptized, 
reared and spent his life. And he was a firm believer 
of these three vital truths of Christianity : 

1. The Bible is the infalHble word of God, given to 
teach men the way of salvation. 

2. Man is a sinner, and can only be saved by faith 
in the atonement of Christ the eternal and only be- 
gotten Son of God. 

3. The woi'k of the Holy Spirit is necessary for the 
enlightenment, renewal and sanctification of the heart. 
Except a man be born again he cannot see the King- 
dom of God. 

In view of this belief and of his upright, consistent 
life, he was urged again and again to make a public 
profession of his belief and purpose of life to obey 
Christ. Had he applied to the Church, he would 
have been received at once. Now why did he not thus 
publicly profess? In my judgment he was in a large 
measure deterred by a wrong view of the third article 
of his belief, the necessity of the regenerating work 



71 

of the Holy Spirit. He was waiting for some almost 
miraculous manifestation of the presence and power 
of the Spirit, which would put his Christian experi- 
ence quite out of the domain of faith, and make it a 
matter of sight. He foiled to see, that the power of 
the Spirit is exercised in silence and unseen, and is 
known only by its effects — that religion is not a 
miracle but a life — that he who walks lovingly and 
obediently in the path which the Spirit points out in 
the Scriptures is led by the Spirit and is a son of 
God. 

Mr. Z. was waiting for something which never 
came, and never would have come, if he had lived 
on to the end of the century. And yet the Spirit 
may have been with him all the time, though he 
knew it not. As he read the Scriptures day by day, 
as was his wont; and as he looked up to God for 
guidance, and committed his way unto him ; who 
are you and I to exclude him from the divine favor, 
because he did not commune ? When we, notwith- 
standing our frequent communions, may at last be 
castaways. And just here comes in the lesson of 
warning to the living. Sinful, helpless, cast your- 
selves on the divine mercy, and do it in the divine 
way. One can never get on earth so near to Christ 



72 

as at the Supper of the Lord. The language of such 
ail approach is : 

" Just as I am — without one plea, 
But that thy blood was shed for me, 
And that thou bidst me come to thee. 
Just as I am — Tliy love unknown 
Has broken every barrier down, 
Now to Ije thine, yea thine alone, 
O, Lamb of God, I come ! I come ! " 

This plea, excUiding all else but Christ, moves 
heaven to do that, which heaven will never reverse. 



73 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE COURT OF ERRORS AND APPEALS 
AT TRENTON. 

[Report taken from the True Americrui.] 

Attorney-General Gilclirist called the attention of the Court 
to the death of tlie late Chancellor. He said : 

May it please your Honors : On Friday afternoon last, the 
family of the late Chancellor Zabriskie received information 
by telegram, dated at Truckee, California, from Mr. Knapp, 
a member of the bar, that ChanceUor Zabriskie was very ill. 
At ten o'clock on the evening of tlie same day, they received 
a telegram that he was dead. No particulars of his death 
have been received, excej)! that he died of erysipelas, and 
from the fact that the two dispatches were from Truckee, and 
several hours apart, it is concluded that the Chancellor did 
. not die in the cars. News of his illness excited tlie sympathy 
of his neighbors. News of his death startled the -whole State, 
for he was widely and genei-ally known, respected and loved. 
The death of so distinguished a man, so lately a member of 
this court, seems to justify a departure from the general rule 
that the court do not place upon its records a memorial of the 
death of any but those who are members of the court, but it 
is the duty of the living to bury the dead, and, though it is 
no part of the duty of the living to praise them, yet when so 
distinguished a man falls, under circumstances so peculiar as 
those which attended the death of Chancellor Zabriskie, a 



74 



death so sudden, while on a journey of intelligent observation 
and recreation in a distant State, we must mourn our loss. It 
assuages a grief that we feel to dwell upon his virtues ; and 
if it be praise to speak of them, it is nature that speaks. 
What was weak and mortal in him we find remaining in our- 
selves. Wliat was good in him we have lost. We cannot 
but mourn the loss of these. Mr. Gilchrist continued, at 
some length, to extol the character of the Chancellor as a man, 
a laAvyer and a judge ; and among other things, said that 
even his errors and defects showed the greatness of his soul. 
He remarked upon the simplicity, modesty and gentleness of 
the Chancellor in social intercourse and even amid the under 
contracts of professional life, and held up the Chancellor's 
intellectual, moral and social character as one to be emulated 
and imitated, remarkiug that from it not only the bar but the 
bench could learn many lessons. During Mr. Gilchrist's re- 
marks he developed the following facts: Deceased was born 
at Greenbush, opposite Albany, N. Y., on June lOth, 1807, 
and was taken to Millstone, N. J., in 1811. He was entered 
at Princeton College in 1823, and graduated at Princeton in 
1825. lie commenced to study law in 1825, with James S. 
Green, Es<i., of Princeton, and was admitted lo j)ractice in 
November, 1828. He was admitted a counsellor in 1831, and 
settled first at Newark. In 1830 he removed to Ilackensack, 
and there remained in practice until 1849. While in Ilacken- 
sack he held the oflice of Surrogate and Prosecutor of Pleas. 
He became Cliancellor on the 1st of May, 1866, served his 
term and died of erysipelas at Truckee, Cal., June 27lh, 1873. 
The Attorney-General concluded by moving the court, that 



75 



out of respect to the memory of so great a jurist and man 
the court do now adjourn. 

Cliancollor liunyon replied : 

The news of the death of the distinguished jurist, whose 
demise has been so eloquently :ind feelingly announced to the 
court by the Attorney-General, was received with the deepest 
regret. Having just retired from a position he had filled 
with great honor to himself and his State, having rounded up 
a life of usefulness, full of years and full of honors; having 
well served his generation, he has fallen asleep. His long 
connection with this court as its presiding oflicer ; his long 
and intimate connection with its business befoi'e he came to 
its bench ; his identification with the administration of justice 
as lawyer and judge, for nearly half a century, render 
eulogium unnecessary among those with whom he has been 
associated. His name is added to those of whose record New 
Jersey is proud. Much as she prizes her history and its asso- 
ciations, the valor and patriotism of her sons on field and 
deck, proud as she is of the character of her peoi)le, of her 
resources and the enterprise of her citizens, she reckons among 
her brightest jewels the lives of such as he; the men who 
have given her her great character for justice, for law and 
order. To speak their names would be to utter the household 
words of her firesides. The deceased was a consummate 
lawyer, a just, patient and im]>artinl judge ; a citizen always 
on the side of the right as iUul gave him to see the right ; 
conservative in his views, firm and positive in his convictions, 
an honor to the State and the"! nation. When he left us his 



76 



eye was not dim nor his natural force abated ; he looked for- 
ward, as well he might, to future useful labor for the State, 
after that vacation which he intended should be but for a few 
days, but which God, in His providence, has made eternal. 
His life was full of high and honorable, example, of duty 
conscientiously discharged and life's labor well and diligently 
done. 

The Attorney-General's motion was adopted. 



77 



RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE COXSTiri'TIOXAL COMMIS- 
SION OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY, JULY Stii, 1873. 
ON THE DEATH OF HON. ABRAHAM O. ZABRISKIE. 

While reverently bowing to the dispensation of" an all-wise 
providence, which lias called iVoni the sphere of his earthly 
influence, in the full vigor and maturity of his great powers, 
the late President of this body, the Honorable A. O. Zabris- 
kie, a due respect to the memory of a great life ended, sanc- 
tions the expression of our sorrow at the irreparable loss this 
body has sustained in his death. 

Honored by the State and his fellow-citizens with high 
trusts, he always merited the confidence reposed in him, by 
the faithful and conscientious discharge of every duty ; as a 
citizen he was patriotic and public spirited; as a lawyer, 
learned, ingenious and faithful ; as an advocate, fearless, zeal- 
ous and powerful ; as a jurist, able, just and upright; as a 
legislator, while he tenaciously maintained and upheld all that 
had been proved to be beneficial, he was willing and eager to 
correct such portions of the law as experience had demon- 
strated to be erroneous, and to eradicate provisions which 
lapse of time had rendered obsolete. 

Eesolved, That this Commission, charged by the Legislative 
and Executive branches of the Government with the respons- 
ible duty of suggesting amendments to the organic laws of. 
the State, has by his death been deprived not only of its 
President, but of its most valued adviser, Massive in inteb 

tore. 



78 



lect, rich in culture, varied in experience, w^ise in counsel, 
noble in impulse, untiring in industry, exhaustive in research, 
he was pre-eminently fitted properly and satisfactorily to dis- 
charge the arduous duties with which he as a member was 
entrusted. 

Mesolved, Tliat we deeply sympathize with the family of 
the deceased, and that a copy of these resolutions, properly 
engrossed, be transmitted to them by the President and en- 
rolled on the minutes of the Commission, 



79 



PROCEEDINGS AT THE BOARD OF CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS OP 
HUDSON COUNTY, AT THEIR MEETING, JULY 80, 1873. 

Freeholder Van Nostrand announced tlie death of" the Late 
Chancellor Zabriskie to the Board, and moved that the Coun- 
sel of the Board prepare a suitable set of resolutions to be 
presented to the Board. 

Counsel Jacob Weart, Esq., reported the following resolu- 
tions concerning the death of Hon. A. O. Zabriskie, which 
were read and adopted unanimously, as follows : 

Whereas, It has pleased God to call from our midst by 
death the Hon. Abraham O. Zabriskie, late Chancellor of the 
State of New Jersey, and also late the Cousel of this Board, 
and huml)ly submitting to the dispensation of divine provi- 
dence ; it is hereby 

Resolved, That we, the members of the Board of Chosen 
Freeholders of the County of Hudson, do deeply mourn the 
loss of the late Chancellor, the Hon. Abraham O. Zabriskie, 
who has been suddenly stricken down by death, in a distant 
State, far aw^ay upon the slopes of the Pacific. 

Resolved, That it is due that we express our feelings of 
respect for the many wise and able opinions rendered upon 
various matters to this Board, during the several years while 
he was its legal advisor; and that his legal opinions, on file 
with the Clerk of this Board, will be lasting monuments to 
his great legal ability. 

Resolved, That in the capacity of senator from this county, 



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80 



he (lid honor to us, great service to the State, and that his 
senatorial term will ever be held in the highest estimation by 
the people of this county. 

Resolved^ That in the office of Chancellor he wore the 
judicial ermine witli great lustre. Of untiring energy, great 
industry, and a i)rofound knowledge of ihe law, he bi'ought 
to the office every I'equisite which made him eminently useful 
to the State ; and his reported legal opinions will lie read 
and respected wherever the law is faithfully administered, and 
equity jurisprudence is revered and esteemed. 

Resolved, Tlmt we regard as the crowning act of his life, 
the exercise of liis influence as a private citizen, and his great 
eflibrts to prevent the extension of the monopoly privik^ges of 
railroads, a measure which was defeated a few years since, 
mainly by his voice and personal exertion. 

Resolved, That we do deeply feel our loss as citizens, as 
neighbors, and IViends, .as the departed filled up a full measure 
of usefulness in all the Christian walks of life. 

Resolved, That the clerk of the Board forward a cony of 
these resolutions to the family of the deceased, and t]i;ii they 
be entered upon our minutes, and that we do attend his 
funeial. 



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